Could do better? Education experts report on Charles Clarke's first year progress

High point: Getting the job in the first place, but it has been all downhill since then.

The schools funding crisis has led to teacher redundancies being blamed on everyone and anyone, and only belatedly has he admitted to making a mistake in his sums.

Low point: Refusing to talk about anything at all to the NUT, which represents more than 250,000 teachers, because we would not sign up to an agreement allowing unqualified people to take classes.

Leadership quality: 2Personal and social skills: Hard to tell as he refuses to talk to us. Achievement: D minusPotential: CAssessment of his Year One performance: Although quick to master a brief, he has shown a lack of maturity in not recognising that disagreement over one issue does not mean that he should stop working with an important partner in education on everything else. He also has not recognised the implications for pupils' achievements of using non-teachers to take classes.

Dr AlistairCooke, general secretary, Independent Schools Council

High point: Encouragement for higher standards through city academies and partnerships with independent schools.

Low point: Dismissing concerns of high achieving schools over university access.

Leadership quality: 7Personal and social skills: 5Achievement: CPotential: BAssessment of his Year One performance: He has made clear that he wants to work closely with ISC schools, not to make life difficult for them.

The DfES [Department for Education and Skills] has probably never been more co-operative than it is today. He must continue to make clear to independent schools that they are a valued part of our nation's education system.

Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers

High point: The signing of the national agreement on raising standards and tackling workload.

Low point: Concern that he wishes to see fewer teachers reach the upper levels of the pay scale.

Leadership quality: 8Personal and social skills: 9Achievement: B minusPotential: AAssessment of his Year Oneperformance: I welcome his forthright recognition that pupil disruption and misbehaviour is an issue for the Government to tackle if its fundamental ambition of improving pupil performance is to be realised.

The most significant policy development in the future will be the organisation of education for 14- to 19-year-olds where post-16 study and training must be encouraged.

Low point: Parental fines and imprisonment, and a lack of support for dysfunctional families.

Leadership quality: 6Personal and social skills: 6Achievement: CPotential: CAssessment of his Year One performance: Overall, it has been a good start and he got to grips with his brief quickly. There remains a number of important areas where he needs to listen more closely to parents and reconsider certain policies such as the over-testing of primary age children and parental fines.

Richard Wilson, business policy executive, Institute of Directors

High point: Commitment to introduce top-up fees.

Low point: Funding debacle in primary and secondary schools.

Leadership quality: 4Personal and social skills: I have never met him.

Achievement: DPotential: CAssessment of his Year One performance: He made an excellent start, but unfortunately he blotted his copybook by presiding over the schools funding crisis.

He has introduced an unnecessary review of A-levels and GCSEs. Standards in education still remain worryingly poor by international standards.